Early life and career

Princess Ana is the eldest child of the head of the Bagration-Gruzinsky family, Prince Nugzar Bagration-Gruzinsky, and his wife, Leila Kipiani. Ana has one younger sister, Princess Maia Bagration-Gruzinsky,[1] born on 2 January 1978.

Originally a journalist, Princess Ana more recently worked as a teacher in a Tbilisi school.[2]

Marriages and children

First marriage

Princess Ana Bagration-Gruzinsky was firstly married on 17 May 2001 to Grigoriy Malania (born in 1970). Malania, an architect, is the son of Grigoriy Malania (1947-2009) and Nana Mgaloblishvili (born in 1951). Through his mother, Grigoriy Malania is a descendant of the last king of Georgia, George XII.[4][5]

The marriage of Princess Ana Bagration-Gruzinsky and Grigoriy Malania was dissolved by divorce in 2007.[5]

Second and third marriages

In a lavish ceremony attended by over 3,000 guests, Princess Ana Bagration-Gruzinsky was secondly married on 8 February 2009 at the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi to a distant cousin, Prince David Bagration of Mukhrani. On the wedding day, Princess Ana told Georgian television channel Rustavi 2 that “I hope that this (day) will be the happiest of my life.” Her father, Prince Nugzar, was also quoted as saying, “The most important thing is that this day will be beneficial for Georgia’s future.”[7]

The wedding received the blessing of Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia, who was very supportive of the joining of the Bagration-Gruzinsky and Bagration-Mukhransky lines. Reports also surfaced that the Patriarch hoped that any son born of the union of Princess Ana and Prince David would become the first post-Soviet tsar of Georgia.[8] The marriage was also hailed by Georgian monarchists hoping for the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Bagrationi dynasty.[9][10]

Princess Ana and Prince David separated within months of their nuptials.[11] Allegations arose that members of the Georgian government conspired to thwart the patriarch's hopes by encouraging Georgian model Shorena Begashvili to undermine the marriage by seducing Prince David, and she subsequently admitted having an affair with him.[12][13] Their first marriage was dissolved in August 2009.[14] The couple subsequently reconciled and contracted a civil marriage in Spain on 12 November 2010.[15]

Princess Ana Bagration-Gruzinsky and Prince David Bagration-Mukhransky had one son: